Chinese Tianwen 1 probe launched to Mars and destined to become the first vehicle in China to enter the orbit of the red planet. The launch took place from the base of Wenchang, on the island of Hainan, and also marked the debut of the Long March 5 rocket. China thus entered the new race to Mars, a few days after the launch of the Hope probe of the United Arab Emirates and about a week ahead of the launch of the new NASA rover, Perseverance.
The Tianwen 1 spacecraft, whose name means "Search for the heavenly truth" thus began its journey to Mars, where the arrival is expected in February 2021 plans to bring both a vehicle in the Martian orbit and a rover destined to explore the surface thanks to 13 tools.
The goal is to study the Martian atmosphere, the internal structure and the surface of the planet, with particular attention to the traces of the presence of water and any signs of life forms.
It is the second launch of a Chinese vehicle bound for Mars. The first dates back to 2011, when the Yinghuo 1 spacecraft was lost with the failure of the Russian mission Phobos-Grunt which failed to enter the correct position in the Earth's orbit and which returned to the Pacific in January 2012.
Chinese probe Tianwen 1 launched to Mars
2020-07-23T21:44:04.086Z
After Hope from the Emirates. NASA Perseverance Turn (ANSA) on July 30th